Explosion-engine.



H. E. COFFIN.

EXPLOSION ENGINE. APPLIOATIoN FILED 1211.9. 1909.

Patented Dec. A1.2, 1911 Wr? n ess es HOWARD-ft. Corrnv, or nnrno'r,MICHIGAN, nssrenon'ro THE cnalivrnnslmo'ron WOMPANY, F DETROIT,MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION 0F MICHIGAN.

EXPLOSION-ENGINE.

Application filed April 9, 1909. Serial No. 489,013.

' To all-whom it con/:cm:

Be it known that '1, HOWARD E. CorriN, a vcitizen of the United Statesof America, residing at Detroit, in the county of vWayne and State ofMichigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inExplosion-Engines, of which the following is a specification, referencebeing had therein to the accompanying drawings.

The invention relates to explosion engines, `and has particularreference to the construction and arrangement of the v'alve nal sectionpartly in diagram through an engine of the two-cycle type to Whleh myimprovement is applied; Fig.'2 is a similar View illustrating the valveas applied to a four-cycle engine; and Fig. 3 is a section at rightangles to Figs. 1 and 2 illustrating a modified construction.

It is the object of the invention to obtain a simple construction andarrangement of valve, which Will control--first, the exhaust port-and,second, a transfer passagel connecting the crank case with the cylinder.Where applied to an engine of the two-cycle type, this valve alone willcontrol the operation of the engine, but With a four-cycle type ofengine it is preferably employed as an auxiliary to the main valve, andperforms thefunction of controlling an auxiliary exhaust, and thetransfer of the compressed air from the crank case to the 'cylinder toaugment the explosive charge.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, A. is the. engine cylinder, B the crank case,C the piston, and D the crank shaft. E is the valve which is preferablyof the rotary type, and is seated in the engine case at one side of thecylinder. F is anexhaust passage extending transversely through theengine casving, and G is a longitudinally-extending passage whichconnects the engine cylinder with the crank case. These passages crossthe seat of the valve in directions transverse to each other, and thusmay be alternately opened by the registration therewith of the transferport II in the valve. The valve E is preferably rotated atcrank-shaft-speed, and may be driven `from the latter by any suitableintermediate connection-such as the sprockets I and chain J. The timingis such that the exhaust port F is first opened and closed, and then thetransfer port G is Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 12, 1911.

opened While the piston is still at the lower end of its stroke topermit the passage of the explosive charge from the crank case to thecylinder. If desired, the timing of the openingv of the exhaust port maybe controlled by the movement of the'piston C, instead of by the valveE,but, as illustrated, the piston Will uncover 'the port F at preciselythe same time that the valve E comes into registration therewith.

The construction illustrated in Fig. 2 is a four-cycle engine, whichma'y be provided With any suitable construction of main inlet andexhaust valves (not shown). It has been found that increased power maybe obtained from such an engine by providing an auxiliary exhaust portfor more quickly reducing the pressure Within the cylinder, and furtherthat an increase in power may be obtained by the injection of aircompressed in the crankA case into the cylinder in conjunction with theAexplosive mixture. Both functions are performed vby the valve E which isarranged to control the transversely-extending' ports- F and Gr', theformer constituting the auxiliary exhaust, and the latter the transferpassage for the compressed air to augment the explosive charge. Thevalve E is preferably driven from the crank shaft, but is so timed thata quarter turn of the valve corresponds to a full revolution of thecrank shaft. Thus the cross port H in the valve E will ,register with'the ports F lGr alternately after each revolution, opening each of saidports once in every two revolutions of the crank shaft. It will beunderstood that the port F is opened at the proper point in the powerstroke of the piston and that after the scavenging stroke and during thesuction stroke the port G Will be opened to transfer the augmenting air.

Both of the constructions above described have the advantage that theaxes of the rotary valve may be arranged parallel to the crankshaft soas to permit of a direct drive In Fig. 3 I have shown a' modiedconstructionyin which the valve is capable of being shifted angularly toadvance or retard its operation. Various constructions may ybe employedfor this purpose, but, as

illustrated, the valve E is connected to a drive gear K by a spiral keyL. rlhe gear K forms a member of a train M driven from the crank shaftand the Width of the gear port, while the rotary valve will perform,the-

function of closing the port.. ln such modifications, the rotary valvewill still control the ports in the sense in which that term is employedin the claims.

W hat l claim as my invention is:

l. ln an explosion engine, the combination With a crank case forming acompression chamber, of a cylinder having a transfer passage connectingwith said crank case, and '1i' an exhaust port, and a single valvecontrollinor said transfer and exhaust orts.

2. ln an explosion engine, the combination with a crank case forming acompression chamber, and a cylinder having a connecting passage Withsaid crank case, and an exhaust passage, of a single rotary valvecontrolling said exhaust and transfer pasF sages.

3. In an explosion engine, the combination with a crank case forming acompression chamber, and an engine cylinder having a connecting passagewith said crank case, and an exhaust port, of a rotary valve controllingboth of said passages' arran ed with its axis parallel to the crank shat, and a direct drive connection between said crank shaft and Valve.

4. In an explosion engine, the combination with a cra'nk 4case formin acompression chamber and a cylinder havlng a connecting passage with saidcrank case, and an exhaust port, both formed in the Wall of the cylin"der, of a rotary valve seated in the Wall of said cylinder andcontrolling both of said passages. v

5. In an explosion engine, the combination with a crank case forming acompression chamber, of a cylinder havingformed in the Wall thereof atransfer port connecting With said crank case, and atransversely-arranged exhaust port, and a rotary valve seated in theWall Vof said cylinder to alternately open said exhaust and transferports. v

6. In an explosion engine, the combination with a crank case forming acompression chamber, of a cylinder having a transfer passage connectingWith said crank case, and an exhaust port, and a valve having a singleport controlling said transfer and exhaust ports.

7. ln an explosion engine, the combination with a crank case formin acompression chamber, of a cylinder having a connecting passage with saidcrank case,

and an exhaust passage, and a rotary valve having a single passagecontrolling said exhaustv and transfer= passages. In testimony whereofLatx my signature in presence of. two Witnesses.

4HlWArRD E. COFFIN. Writnesses:

LENA M. 'CARI-n,

C. O. EGERTON Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each,by addressing the Commissioner of latents.

Washington, D. C.

